When we talk about legumes, we are referring to the seed or fruit of plants in the legume family. This group includes beans, garbanzo beanslas lentils and the peas.
Legumes, along with cerealswere basic foods of the populations from the period Neolithic, when the human being began to work the land to obtain food. The reason for their success was that they are easy to store, can be kept for a long time, are nutritious food, and also provide difficult-to-obtain protein during lean times.
Legume cultivation already existed in the Fertile Crescent some 10,000 years ago and since then it has been present in different cultures. Thus, for example, thanks to hieroglyphic inscriptions we know that the Egyptians venerated the cult of lentils.
Three resistant oligosaccharides
Both beans and chickpeas and other legumes produce a large amount of gas during digestion, a phenomenon caused by the fact that these foods contain resistant oligosaccharides in their composition: huge molecules that cannot be reabsorbed in the digestive system.
Among these oligosaccharides, three stand out in particular: raffinosa, stachyous y verbascosa. So that we can understand its importance, there is one piece of information ahead: it is estimated that legumes can contain 5 to 8 grams of these oligosaccharides per 100 grams of dry product.
These three oligosaccharides need an enzyme – the alfa-galactosidasa– to be able to be hydrolyzed into simpler carbohydrates, which can already be assimilated. Unfortunately, in our digestive tract we do not have this enzyme, we only have the beta-galactosidasaa catalyst with which we can break the galactose bond present in lactose.
When the indigestible sugars reach the colon, the bacteria present there can use them for their own benefit through a process of anaerobic fermentation, causing the synthesis of a certain amount of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogenated gases, the ultimate responsible for flatulence.
Although a part of these gases can be absorbed, most of them are expelled, being able to irritate the intestinal wall, increasing peristaltic movements and producing, on some occasions, diarrheal stools.
According to a study published in ‘Gastroenterology and Hepatology’, healthy people produce between half a liter and two liters of gas per day, which are eliminated, on average, through fourteen farts per day. A fact that should not surprise us since our large intestine is home to some 200 different colonies of bacteria.
To avoid these unpleasant consequences after eating legumes, a simple trick can be used: soak the legumes the day before, so that the wall of the legume softens, which favors the cooking process. carbohydrates hydrolyze on their own.